2.6 Research recommendations

• Establishment of a national online database of human skeletal material from Scottish archaeological sites, which would enable researchers to easily locate specimens appropriate for specific research projects and facilitate new thematic, temporal and geographical studies of the DNA, diet, health, mobility and demography of past populations in Scotland.

• Active promotion of new collaborative research between the existing DNA, isotope, biomolecule, epidemiology and medical imaging facilities and expertise in Scotland and archaeologists and bioarchaeologists working on Scottish remains through a series of symposia and workshops aimed at the development of new project proposals.

• Wide publicization of Scotland’s outstanding potential to provide a focus for research on past human and animal adaptation, flexibility and mobility patterns due to the highly contrasting environments and ecosystems within a relatively small geographical area, in order to attract cutting-edge scientific research on these issues using Scottish archaeological material.

• Targeted research on sites of all periods in the areas of Scotland where local soil conditions permit the preservation of human and animal skeletal material, in order to address the current gaps in the human and animal bone records.